Page 1 of His Ringsend
Chapter One
Norah
“Get up! Get dressed! We’re going out!”
I stare, wide-eyed, at the dark-haired woman in my doorway. “I’m sorry, what?”
“You heard me,” Myra says, her big brown eyes full of mischief as she plants her hands on her hips. “We’re going out. You haven’t gone out with us inforever,and I refuse to let you sit here on a Friday night like some kind of old lady.”
“It hasn’t been that long.” I roll my eyes at her. “And besides, I have costumes to make tomorrow. The play is in two months, and I really need to focus on the gowns for the ballroom scene.”
“Oh please,” she says, flipping her hair over ashoulder. “You know as well as I do that you have them mostly completed. Do them next Saturday.Please!”
She’s not wrong, but she doesn’t need to know that.
Myra is the life of the party and the reason our group never lacks amusing stories. She always wants to go out, always enjoys a drink - or five - and always has guys falling all over her. We are polar opposites. I’m the quiet and reserved friend who keeps to myself and avoids large crowds as much as possible. Being surrounded by strangers makes me more anxious than normal. To keep my day-to-day anxiety in check, I design and create costumes. There’s just something magical about being able to sketch something on paper, and then bring it to life. If my hands are busy, my mind is calm. My love for costume designing started as a little girl and evolved throughout the years until I decided that I wanted to make a career out of it. Now moms all over the city flock to me for their kids’ dance recitals and Halloween costumes, and the local community theater requests my services regularly. On top of that, I’m currently working for the Department of Theatre at the University of North Carolina Wilmington as their Costume Designer.
At the age of twenty-one, I moved away from the Midwest town I called home and enrolled at UNCW. Before that, I spent the two years following high school caring for my ailing mother. When she passed away, I took another year off to settle her estate, travel, and heal. I wasn’t just healing from losing my Mom, but fromthe incidenttoo. I’ve always loved North Carolina, but being close to the ocean brings me peace. I can almost feel my Mom beside me each time I inhale the salty air.
“Myra, I really don’t—” My front door flies open again, revealing a gorgeous blonde knockout. Amelia.
For fucks sake.
“Did she say no? I knew she would,” Amelia says arrogantly like I’m not sittingrighthere.
“I’m not done convincing her yet!” Myra barks. “I told you to give me ten minutes!”
“There’s no way you can convince her to go out with us in ten minutes!You know you have to ease her into this stuff gradually,” Amelia counters.
“Girls, please,” I beg. “I really don’t feel like it and I’m already in my sweats. I just poured a glass of wine and I’m getting ready to start the next episode of Outlander. Why don’t you stay and watch it with me? You know, girl time!”
Please say yes. Please say yes.
The two intruders look at each other before facing me again. “No,” they say together and reach for me.
Twenty minutes later, I’m donning dark blue skinny jeans and my favorite Kelly green V-neck t-shirt with my auburn curls hanging loosely around my face. I’m in the backseat of Amelia’s car, watching out the window and listening to them argue over whether we’re going to the pub or the dance club downtown. If it were up to me, I’d choose the pub in a heartbeat.
“You know,” I hedge, “tonightisopen mic night at O’Nelly’s. I’m pretty certain the soccer team is going to be there.”
“But we can’t dance at the pub. I wore this outfit with the whole purpose of finding a hot guy and dancing,” Myra huffs, pulling the visor down to check her reflection in the mirror.
“You can dance at O’Nelly’s.” I roll my eyes at her.
“Ugh. No thanks.” She wrinkles her nose. “But maybe I can convince one of them to take me out tomorrow night!”
Amelia catches my gaze in the rear-view mirror and winks. “You know, I think Norah’s right. Let’s go to the pub tonight and the club tomorrow! They usually have ladies’ night on Saturdays anyway.”
Bingo.
“So it’s decided,” I announce gleefully, pulling my phone from my purse. “O’Nelly’s it is. I’ll text the others to see if they want to meet us!”
When these two get together, things tend to get a little crazy, so I’m going to need a buffer. Pulling up our group chat, I text Charlie and Layla.
Norah:Hey, girls! Myra and Amelia kidnapped me and are taking me to O’Nelly’s. Please come rescue me!
Layla:Ugh. Those jerks. Don’t they know you’re watching Outlander tonight??? Sorry, I’m in for the night. I work a double tomorrow. Lunch later this week?
Norah:Boo. Sorry about the double. Yes to lunch! xoxo
